Mancuso earned gold victory in women's giant slalom

Mancuso earned gold victory in women's giant slalom

Julia Mancuso earned a stunning victory in the giant slalom on a snowy, foggy Friday to salvage a disappointing Olympics for the U.S. women. Mancuso gave the American women their first Olympic medal since Picabo Street earned gold in the super-G at the 1998 Nagano Games.

With two strong runs in awful weather, Mancuso had a combined time of 2 minutes, 9.19 seconds. 67 seconds faster than silver medalist Tanja Poutiainen of Finland . With a big second run, Anna Ottosson of Sweden took the bronze, 1.14 seconds behind Mancuso.

Janica Kostelic of Croatia , the defending Olympic champion, did not race because of illness. Mancuso's medal was the second for the Americans in Alpine skiing, both gold. Ted Ligety won the men's combined last week, reports the AP.

N.U.